More than anything else Jason wanted a new PlayStation system for Christmas. Forget about clothes or CDs or money. His only hope for finding holiday fulfillment was a PlayStation.

Jason's mom and dad both worked, so he always got home from school two hours before they got home. One afternoon while he was home by himself, he wandered into his parents' bedroom, wondering what he might find.

He looked in the closet, opened a few drawers, and then peeked under the bed. He found a shopping bag from an electronics store—the same one that sold PlayStation systems!

He knew he shouldn't look. His parents had hidden the shopping bag under their bed for a reason. They wanted to surprise him on Christmas morning.

Jason decided not to look. He left his parents' bedroom and went to his own room. But his mind kept returning to that shopping bag under the bed. It had his PlayStaion system in it, he was sure of that. It's going to be mine in a few weeks anyway, he reasoned, so why shouldn't I have it now? He tortured himself with thoughts like that for the rest of the night.

By the time he got home from school the next afternoon, Jason couldn't stand it any longer. He headed straight for his parents' bed and looked inside the bag. His suspicion was confirmed: it was a brand new PlayStation.

Jason carefully removed the box from the bag and held it on his lap for a while. He didn't try to open it at first because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get it closed again. He just stared at the picture on the front and read all of the fine print. He also tried to talk himself out of what he knew he was going to do.

But the temptation proved too much for him.

Jason carefully broke the seals on the box and slid the console out. With just a moment's hesitation, he hooked it up to the TV and played with it for about ten minutes.

He had fun, but not as much fun as he'd imagined. Maybe he was too scared of being caught to enjoy himself. He put everything back in the box exactly as he had found it and replaced the box in the shopping bag under the bed.

Jason did the same thing the next day—and every day for the next three weeks. He would come home, take the PlayStation out, and play with it a little longer each day. But he always managed to put it away just before his parents got home from work.

When Christmas finally came, Jason's parents put his present under the tree, but Jason found it hard to get excited. He already knew what he was getting, and while it was just what he'd asked for, it didn't feel right. When the time came to open his gift, he tried to act surprised (for his parents' sake), but it was no big deal to him. In fact, it was a huge disappointment.

It was Jason's worst Christmas ever.